1. Field
The invention is in the field of methods and apparatus for producing a masa product from dried corn kernals.
2. State of the Art
The current method of producing a milled masa product from dried corn kernals for use in the making of corn chips, tortilla chips, and similar products includes, as necessary steps, cooking, soaking, and aging the dried corn kernals in a lime solution to soften the outer hulls of the kernals, washing the kernals to remove as much residual lime as possible, and then grinding the kernals by means of conventional stone or steel grinding mills as normally employed for grains, such as wheat.
The current method has disadvantages, primarily in the long cooking, soaking, and aging time required, typically between 12 and 24 hours. Even then, the conventional grinding procedures do not give consistent results.